Control of Safety Input/Output by Non-Safety System During Safe Times

Abstract

Improved process control systems may include shared safety control and process control components / elements, facilitating the sharing of sensors, actuators, and input / output (I / O) interface circuitry between the safety functionality of the system and the general operational (i.e. normal) functionality of the system. Components and / or circuitry corresponding to safety operations of the system may be designed to permit inputs to be monitored during normal operations at all times as there is typically no safety risk associated with monitoring. The components and / or circuitry corresponding (or dedicated) to the safety operations of the system may operate to prevent normal operational control of various designated outputs / actuators when there is a need to activate safety functions. When there is no need to activate safety functions, these same components and / or circuitry may allow normal operational control of the designated outputs / actuators. The safety portion or segment of the system may have priority control over the outputs / actuators, and may permit normal functionality and signal propagation to the actuators / outputs when it is safe to do so.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to the field of instrumentation, and more particularly to the design of control of safety input / output by a non-safety system during safe times.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART[0002]In many industrial applications (and others), instruments collect data or information from an environment or unit under test (UUT), and may also analyze and process acquired data. Some instruments provide test stimuli to a UUT. Examples of instruments include oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, pressure sensors, arbitrary waveform generators, digital waveform generators, etc. The information that may be collected by respective instruments includes information describing voltage, resistance, distance, velocity, pressure, oscillation frequency, humidity, and / or temperature, among others. Computer-based instrumentation systems typically include transducers for capturing a physical phenomenon and generating a representative electrical signal, signal con...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a system that combines both safety and process control functions in a single system. The system includes a safety controller that can access and control certain outputs that control normal operating functions of the system. The safety controller determines whether it is safe to access and control the outputs based on monitoring and various safety triggers. The system also includes a process controller that can transmit requests to access and control certain outputs for safety functions. The safety controller determines whether to grant the access based on the conditions and actions described above. The technical effect of the invention is to provide a flexible and safe system that allows for safety and process control functions to be shared between the two systems.

Problems solved by technology

In contrast, these components and / or circuitry corresponding (or dedicated) to the safety operations of the system may not permit normal operational control of various designated outputs when there is a call or need to activate safety functions.

On the other hand, the safety controller may deny the process controller access to the one or more outputs if the safety controller has determined that it is not safe for the process controller to access and control the one or more outputs.

In some embodiments, the safety controller may also access and control the one or more outputs at least in response to determining that it is not safe for the process controller to access and control the one or more outputs, and by doing so it may override the normal operating function of the system and may also cause the one or more components to perform at least part of a safety function of the system.